Tag Archives: healthy

I chose this recipe because it sounded like a naughty weekend breakfast but it is surprisingly only 194 calories per portion and the portion is a fair size for breakfast.

Ingredients

I love fried potato and bacon, who doesn’t? And the addition of the tomatoes and spring onions made it taste fresh and less stodgy.

The cooking times for this were spot on but that is assuming you have already cooked and chilled the potatoes or have some left over from the day before. If you need to cook the potatoes at the same time, add another 20 minutes to the recipe. Fried potatoes work better with cold potatoes but it isn’t essential.

I love poached egg and you can’t beat a nice runny one in my opinion but that of course is up to you.

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a large non-stick frying pan. Add the bacon, cooking it for 1-2 minutes. Add the potatoes and cook over a medium heat for 12-15 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned.

2. add the spring onions and tomatoes and cook over a low heat for another 4-5 minutes, while poaching the eggs.

3. Poach the eggs in simmering water for 3-4 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still runny. (Like them firmer? Poach them for longer).

4. Share the potato hash between 4 warm plates and place a poached egg on top. Add a pinch of black pepper and serve.

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Having tried a breakfast and lunch option, I thought it was time for a healthy dinner recipe. I chose salmon with parsley mash from the recipe booklet. I love salmon and it’s so good for you and low in fat. Ideally you should try to eat oily fish at least once a week which I do try to do and salmon is a favourite of mine.

Ingredients for the dish

This recipe was extremely easy. The mash was straight forward and the spring onion and parsley added something extra without being fiddly or difficult to do. The salmon took slightly longer to do than instructed but the timings are always a guide, you just need to cut it open slightly to make sure it’s cooked all the way through.

Personally, I like a bit of butter in my mash usually but it was actually fine without. I will still add butter and cream for a special meal but for a mid-week meal, it is absolutely fine without. Overall it was it fresh, healthy and very very easy.

It’s one of those dishes that you can make look impressive with the presentation when in fact there was very little to it.

One of those dishes that you can make look more impressive than it is

Recipe- serves 4

445 calories per portion, 20 minutes prep time, 25 minutes cook time

Ingredients:

1kg potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

6 spring onions, finely sliced

1 tsp vegetable oil

4x 120g salmon fillets

4 tbsp semi-skimmed or 1% fat milk

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 head broccoli, broken into florets

freshly ground black pepper

What to do:

1. Cook the potatoes in boiling water for 20 minutes until tender. Add the spring onions 5 minutes before the end of the cooking time.

2. When the potatoes have been cooking for 10 minutes, it’s time to prepare the salmon. Heat the vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the salmon, skin side down. Cook over a high heat for 2-3 minutes. Turn the salmon over, reduce the heat and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

3. Cook the broccoli in a little boiling water for about 5-6 minutes. Rest the salmon for a few minutes while you make the mash.

4. Drain the potatoes and spring onions and mash throughly. Beat in the milk and parsley. Reheat on the hob for a minute, beating well. Share the mash between four plates and arrange the salmon fillets on top. Serve with the broccoli.

I kicked off the first day of my Change For Life Challenge with a lunch time option from the recipe booklet- Harvest Vegetable Soup. I know that when you’re working it can be quite difficult to eat a healthy lunch on the go. Most of us don’t have access to a kitchen to prepare food in the workplace (myself included) so I often make my lunch in advance. I actually made this Sunday night and I made enough to have for 2 days and some to freeze. The recipe serves 4 so if there are only 2 of you like there are in my house, I would suggest making it all anyway and saving some for another day.

Soup ingredients

I make soup quite often but I know that if you’re new to cooking it can be quite daunting picking ingredients. You learn what goes together over time but I thought this recipe was a great starting point because it is a good base which you can add to and adapt when you get more confident.

The instructions for this recipe were easy to follow but be careful with the cooking times because at the top of the page in the handy timings diagram (and stated below) it says cooking time 15 minutes but in the instructions you are told to simmer the vegetables for 25 minutes. It takes more like 30 minutes in total.

I liked the use of the sweetcorn, I think it added a nice colour and texture but if you’re not keen on any of the ingredients, you can always leave them out or swap them for another. The best thing about soup is that you can pretty much include whatever you want. It’s a great way of using up vegetables and of experimenting with flavours.

1. Put the onion, leek, carrot, swede or turnip, potato and stock into a large saucepan. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 25 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

2. Blend the cornflour to a smooth paste with 2-3 tablespoons of the milk. Add the remaining milk to the saucepan with the sweetcorn, then stir in the blended cornflour. Heat gently, stirring constantly, until the soup thickens and just begins to boil.

3. Season with black pepper and ladle into bowls. Serve each portion with a wholemeal roll.